语言与文风2016beta.theodysseyonline.com
英语中没有的日语词汇
Japanese Words That Don't Exist in English
导读
这篇文章列举了若干被认为在英语中"无法翻译"的日语词，评论区则在争论"不可译"这个说法是否成立，并补充了几个更有味道的词。对写作者来说，它示范了如何用一个具体场景、一段词源或一句对比，把抽象的外来概念讲到读者能感到、能记住。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
别滥用"无法翻译"这种绝对化标签，要分清是"英语没有对应单词"还是"意思根本传达不了"——后者往往并不成立。
- 02
解释一个外来概念时，可以先给字面意思或词源，再举一个日常场景，最后点出它与本地观念的差异。
- 03
用一句对比能把抽象概念立起来，比如"杀不死你的让你更强"对"毁不掉你的让你更美"。
- 04
在罗列之外补上一个"被漏掉的词"并说明理由，会让文章比单纯清单更有观点。
HN 评论精选
"不可译"是噱头：用多个词照样能把意思讲清楚。
有意思的是，文章说这些词"无法翻译"，却又把它们翻译了出来。英语里确实没有哪个单词能精确对应这些日语单词，但"无法翻译"给人的印象是，即使多用几个词也传达不了意思——而这恰恰是文章做到的事。
pdonis查看英文原文
I find it interesting that the article calls these words "untranslatable" but then proceeds to translate them. Yes, there are no single words in English that have the exact meanings of the single words in Japanese, but "untranslatable" gives the impression of not being able to convey the meaning in English even with multiple words--but that's exactly what the article does.
好词要靠具体场景和词源来解释，读者才记得住。
我喜欢这几个词：Murahachibu（村八分），意为排斥、公开孤立，原指村里十件事中有八件把你排除在外；仍允许你做的两件事是救火和殡葬，被视为最卑贱肮脏的活计。处理尸体被认为"不洁"，做这行的人被隔离到最破败的村落区域（buraku），由此衍生出历史上受歧视的"部落民"（burakumin）。现代的村八分温和些：职场或社交中不会拍马屁、不会拉关系，最需要帮助时就没人帮你。Daikon ashi，萝卜腿（指女性），daikon 就是日料用的粗长白萝卜；日本女性在意"大腿缝"的程度不亚于西方女性。Tachiyomi，站着读，在书店拿起书就地读；漫画迷爱这么干，店主有时会赶人；这让我想起少年时直奔杂志架把游戏杂志读个遍、妈妈在旁边买菜的日子。
bitwize查看英文原文
I like these: Murahachibu: shunning, public ostracism. Originally meant being excluded from eight (out of ten) aspects of village life. The two jobs which a person under murahachibu were still allowed to perform were firefighting and undertaking, considered the meanest, dirtiest, and least desirable jobs. Handling corpses was thought to make a person "unclean", and persons who did so were isolated to the slummiest village districts called buraku; from these are descended the burakumin, who (much like blacks in the USA) have been historically an oppressed underclass and yet have contributed much to the modern street culture of Japan. Modern murahachibu is practiced in a less severe form: if you fail to kiss the right asses and scratch the right backs in your professional or social life, you will find yourself without help when you most need help. Daikon ashi: thick legs (on a woman). A daikon is, of course, a long thick radish used in Japanese cooking. It turns out that Japanese women are at least as self-conscious about not having a "thigh gap" as are Western women. Tachiyomi: to "read standing up". When you're in a bookshop and you pick a book off the shelf and start reading it right in the shop. Manga fans love to do this; bookshop owners will sometimes throw people out for doing it. Brings back memories of being an early teen and heading straight for the magazine racks to read ALL THE GAMING MAGAZINES while my mother did the shopping.
一个词能承载一种不同于西方的价值观，对比写法很有效。
我很喜欢 Kintsukuroi：用金或银把陶器碎片接合修补的技艺，并认为器物因破碎过而更美。西方人有尼采式的观念"杀不死你的让你更强"；而 kintsukuroi 更像"毁不掉你的让你更美"。仿佛修补时投入的心力与照料，赋予了它更高的价值。
11thEarlOfMar查看英文原文
I really like: "Kintsukuroi": the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver joining the pieces and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. Westerners have the Nietzsche'esque notion of 'what does not kill you makes you stronger'. But "Kintsukuroi" is more like 'what does not destroy you makes you more beautiful.' It's as if the effort and care taken to repair the item confers a sense of heightened value on it.
用具体生活情境解释外语词，最能传达它的含义。
有个词我本以为会在列表里却没有：もったいない（mottainai）。它描述某物或某人明明还有用却被闲置、被浪费的情形，比如桌上剩饭、浪费别人的才华。我在美国生活十多年，一直觉得这个词最能代表美国文化所缺的东西。
kohsuke查看英文原文
There's one word that I expected to be in the list but it isn't, which is もったいない (mottai nai) It describes the situation where something/someone that is still of some use is left unused and wasted, such as leaving food on the table or wasting somebody's talent. I'm a Japanese who's been living in the US for more than a decade, and I always thought this one word represents what's missing in American culture the most.
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